Paloverde

Van Vliet #2

by Jacqueline Briskin

The saga of a passionate and powerful family in Los Angeles.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Adult, Novels

460 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Jacqueline Briskin (1927-2014) was the New York Times-bestselling author of fourteen historical novels that reflect the tumultuous changes in American society that she witnessed over her lifetime. Complete with dynamic storylines, vibrant characters, and passionate romantic relationships, her novels have sold more than twenty million copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty-six languages.

Briskin was born in London, England, the granddaughter of the chief rabbi of Dublin, Ireland. Her family moved to Beverly Hills, California, to escape Adolf Hitler and religious orthodoxy. A few years later, she married her best friend and the love of her life, Bert, whose family was deeply embedded in Hollywood and the movie business. When Briskin's three children were little more than toddlers, she attended a class at UCLA entitled "The Craft of Fiction." To her surprise, it was a class about writing fiction rather than reading fiction. And so her career began.

Over the next forty years, many of Briskin's books topped the New York Times bestseller list. Her adoptive home of Los Angeles and her husband's old stomping ground of Hollywood often play a prominent role in her meticulously researched books.

Reviews

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Преводът на заглавието е покъртителен, истинското заглавие е “Паловерде” - вечнозелено дърво, растящо в Калифорния и символ на семейството от романа. Освен това (след като я прочетох на английски) е видно, че преводачът умишлено (явно от религиозно-благонравни съображения спрямо отношения между братовчеди, например) е пропуснал определени реплики и моменти, което е пълно безобразие и осакатяване, и лишава от смисъл някои сцени. Това е и безмислено, понеже в книгата липсват каквито и да е крайности! Някой действително трябва да контролира такова своеволно цензуриране!

Жанрът е “семейна сага” за няколко поколения калифорнийци с ирландска, холандска, индианска, испанска и френска кръв.

В края на 19-ти ти век двама братя търсят по какъв път да поемат. Единият е прагматичен, волеви и малко безцеремонен, типичният ирландец. Другият носи твърде много от индианската и мексиканската кръв на предците си, твърде много от тъмната им меканхолия и безнадеждна поетичност. И разбира се - шерше ла фам - красива французойка ще ги раздели завинаги.

През 20-те години животът тъкмо кипи след травмите на първата световна война, а Холивуд вече се превръща в измамния, бляскав нов Вавилон, който разпръсква магията на киното и създава легенди, но и съсипва животи. Ред е на следващото поколение да измине трънливия си път и да се сблъска с тайните от миналото.

Една от любимите ми книги в този жанр.

[June Guymon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wins on two fronts: it gives a fascinating insight into the development of Los Angeles at the end of the 19th Century, and the emergence of that brash new town, Hollywood; and it is also a great love story

[Carlota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atrapante y difícil de calificar cuando se lee casi 50 años después de su publicación (podría ser un 4 estrellas). La sociedad nos va moldeando y hay cosas que hoy son inaceptables, por eso no solo hay que situarse en el momento de la historia (1884 hasta 1925) sino considerar cuándo fue escrito (1970).
Es un novelón, digno de telenovela; una trama de enredos a lo largo de cuatro décadas donde el amor por una misma mujer separa a dos hermanos californianos. La autora sitúa la historia en Los Ángeles, en Paloverde (Hollywood) y la ficción recorre su pasado desde los tiempos de la conquista de los españoles, pasando por el pueblo lleno de polvo y pioneros, las ferreterías, el ferrocarril, el descubrimiento del petróleo en la zona, la Gran Guerra, el surgimiento del cine, las estrellas y la gran expansión de ese pueblito que se convierte en una mega ciudad.
Los personajes despiertan pasiones, nos ofuscan, nos generan ternura. Amelie es el foco de deseo de 3V y su hermano Bud. El primero la quiere por capricho, Bud la ama con buen amor. Las consecuencias de esa disputa más los avatares de un hacedor frente a un soñador hacen esta lectura atrapante. Decir más sería hacer spoilers horribles porque cuando se abarcan las siguientes generaciones se revela la trama de las anteriores.

[Belen (f.k.a. La Mala ✌)]

Avenida Brasil es House of Cards al lado de este novelón.

Y ahora no tengo ganas de escribir pero la misoginia y la culpabilización de las víctimas de violación en esta historia es abundante - demasiado (se entiende un poco, teniendo en cuenta el año en que se escribió pero, aún así, es imposible de tragar.)

Entretenido a veces, rico en contexto histórico pero con personajes de cartón, sin dimensiones más allá del estereotipo. Para leer solamente en caso de andar necesitando mucho melodrama.




Psst! Ahora también metí la nariz en estos sitios: ●●

[Curlyhair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this when I read it, rather a few years ago. The more pages a book like this had the better, the sweeping saga of love, tragedy etc.

[Nick Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over two generations of Los Angeles history, a wealthy, passionate and powerful family become pioneers in the railroad & oil industries, filmmaking and (most significantly of all) paternity tests.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ως ιστορία είναι ιδιαιτέρως ενδιαφέρουσα, ωστόσο το βιβλίο δεν είναι καλογραμμένο, παρουσιάζει προβλήματα στον τρόπο που εξελίσσονται τα ψυχογραφήματα και δε μας δίνει περιγραφικά την "εικόνα" της εποχής.
Θεωρώ απαράδεχτη την εξέλιξη των γεγονότων, σε σχέση με τη σεξουαλική βία. Βρίσκω απαράδεκτο το άλλοθι της μέθης για ένα βιασμό, ο οποίος μάλιστα μοιάζει να συγχωρείται. Ανεπίτρεπτο και εγκληματικό!

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paloverde begins in Los Angeles in the late 19C and tells the story of Amélie Deane and the two Van Vliet brothers Bud and Vincent (nicknamed 3Vee). Both brothers are in love with fifteen year old Amélie but she can only marry one and she chooses Bud, and heartbroken 3Vee leaves to make his fortune mining. When 3Vee returns he is married with a child, no fortune, but still in love with Amélie. 3Vee gets too drunk at a party and the actions he takes have consequences for himself, Amélie and Bud that carry over into the next generation. There's a whole lot more than that, but it's too complicated to try and detail without writing a full recap, which I don't like to do.

The second part of the book tells the story of Amélie's daughter Tessa and 3Vee's son Kingdon as Hollywood is coming into its own and The Great War is raging in Europe. Kingdon, a flying ace is injured in France and while recuperating from his injuries in Los Angeles meets Tessa by accident and they are surprised to find they are cousins. Sparks fly (of course) and they fall in love, but the long ago actions of Kingdon's father threaten to split apart the two lovers who may or may not be too closely related for marriage, and they are eventually wrapped up in a Hollywood scandal of murderous proportions.

Briskin takes the reader on a grand old multi-generational family saga through old Los Angeles, a shocking court battle against the railroad, the first discovery of oil, the birth of Hollywood and its decadent lifestyle to a final culmination in an airplane stunt for Kindgon's latest movie that threatens to go terribly awry. Although many of the storylines were fairly predictable in how they would be resolved (except for the last one - I did not see that one coming!), I still found the book to be highly enjoyable and had a very difficult time keeping my nose out of it until the very end. Four stars.

[Ioanna Xristodoyloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Για αρχη να πω πως το βιβλιο εχει ενα πολυ ενδιαφερων και ιδιαιτερο θεμα...η εποχη που διαδραματιζετε ειναι την εποχη που το λος ανζελες ειναι ενα μικρο χωριο,στην πορεια βλεπουμε το πως εξελιχθηκε στην σημερινη του εικονα.Η ιστορια δυο αδερφων που αγαπησαν την ιδια γυναικα και καταστραφηκαν...
στα αρνητικα του βιβλιου ειναι οτι σε πολλα σημεια εκανε κοιλια...καποιες εκρασεις που ειχε δεν ταιριαζαν με την εποχη ουτε με της ηλικιες των ηρωων..ενα συμπαθιτικο αναγνωσμα που παρολο που η βαρακα εβαζε νερα σε αρκετα σημεια μου κρατησε παρεα ευχαριστα..3,5 αστερακια απο μενα

[°мαggιє° (っ⚈ᴥ⚈)っ™ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this was so much better than expected. witty dialogue and people with real insecurities. definitely not a bodice ripper. definitely cared more for the Amelie/bud/3vee storyline than i did the flapper girl Hollywood star storyline with Amelie and what's his name? Kingdon. shows how unmemorable they were. their love sort of popped out of nowhere and it got unnecessarily angsty.

definitely a book of epic proportions like gone with the wind. i was riveted!

[Gillian Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, a sweeping family saga before a backdrop of the development of Los Angeles from a shanty town through the rise of the oil industry, the film industry and the history of aviation. A well recommended read

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining book all around. I really enjoy the historical context of it. Kingdon and Tessa’s relationship is wild as hell but it makes for a very entertaining read. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of romance books but this one had enough of the other stuff to keep me roped in.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call me unenlightened and/or unromantic, but this had quite a few 'eww' moments for me. However, great storytelling and real characters made up for it.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series! Love this author!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

She wrote these 3 books (Paloverde, Rich Friends, The Onyx) completely out of order.

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

J'ai bien aimé la première partie du livre, qui a mon sens est la seule plus ou moins intéressante.
Malgré tout elle est marquée par bon nombre de choses qui m'ont gêné. Le fait que le perso principal puisse avoir une relation avec une jeune fille de 15 ans est assez malsain. Je peux comprendre qu'à l'époque cela passait "mieux" mais ca reste néanmoins de la pédophilie.
La deuxième partie est terriblement mauvaise et j'ai détesté les deux personnnages. Je n'ai pas compris leur attraction mutuel.

Le livre est une réédition d'un roman paru dans les années 80, ce qui explique pas mal de choses qui ne passeraient plus vraiment aujourd'hui...

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not a great book in the literary sense. But a great personal memory: the first novel I read entirely in English, a very long time ago, as a young adult, during a holiday on the Riviera. Typical of the kind of best-sellers that were fashionable at some point, and, for what it is, very enjoyable. It clearly had some kind of impact on me, because I remember quite well the story. Among what seemed to me quite successful was Briksin's talent at telling, through her characters, the story of Los Angeles in a colorful way.

[Oma Eguara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book around 1980 and loved it! I won't spoil it by sharing details but if you love family sagas, read it! I rated it 4 stars because at some points it is rather drawn out, but a lovely story all the same.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I couldn't pronounce the title (guess I should have taken Spanish instead of German) and the ending was predictable, I liked the book.

[Sally Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at Los Angeles and Hollywood at the turn of the century...the 20th century.

[Manuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emozionante e commovente, soprattutto grazie ai personaggi splendidamente tratteggiati di Kingdon e Tessa.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read every book by this author and enjoyed them all. Great California/LA history thrown in with great fiction. Wish I know what happened to her.

[CAPANNA DURMONT]

Ho registrato un libro su BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11152134

[Gary Branson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great family saga. Briskin writes a great historical novel you won't want to put down. Great character development and setting. Recommended.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacqueline Briskin, PB-B, @ 1978, 9/91. A love story about 2 brothers who love the same girl and about the birth and growth of Los Angeles, its railroads, oil and film industry. Good.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love story about two brothers and the woman they both love.